Principal Financial Group Inc. Acquires 352,126 Shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES - Free Report) by 12.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,201,863 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 352,126 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 1.02% of Ares Management worth $566,826,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of ARES. CWM LLC grew its stake in Ares Management by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,762 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $430,000 after buying an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning grew its stake in Ares Management by 13.7% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 20,957 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $3,266,000 after buying an additional 2,532 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its stake in Ares Management by 17.2% in the 3rd quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 2,305 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $359,000 after buying an additional 339 shares during the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC grew its stake in Ares Management by 8.2% in the 3rd quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 1,963 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $306,000 after buying an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in Ares Management by 2,533.3% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 948 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $148,000 after purchasing an additional 912 shares during the period. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on ARES shares. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Ares Management from $224.00 to $217.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Ares Management from $207.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Ares Management from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Ares Management in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ares Management from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $176.17.

Ares Management Price Performance

ARES stock traded down $6.84 during trading on Thursday, hitting $179.90. 1,383,141 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,073,956. Ares Management Co. has a one year low of $125.23 and a one year high of $200.49. The stock has a market cap of $56.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 88.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $185.17 and a 200 day simple moving average of $167.94. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.12). Ares Management had a net margin of 11.35% and a return on equity of 16.64%. Equities analysts expect that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a $1.12 dividend. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.49%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This is a boost from Ares Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Ares Management's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 183.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ares Management

In related news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 18,232 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.54, for a total transaction of $3,200,445.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 116,201 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,397,923.54. The trade was a 13.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 115,838 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.83, for a total transaction of $20,599,471.54. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 1,259,162 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $223,916,778.46. This represents a 8.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 447,080 shares of company stock worth $80,060,323. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ares Management Profile

Ares Management Corporation operates as an alternative asset manager in the United States, Europe, and Asia. The company's Tradable Credit Group segment manages various types of investment funds, such as commingled and separately managed accounts for institutional investors, and publicly traded vehicles and sub-advised funds for retail investors in the tradable and non-investment grade corporate credit markets.